As the light lit up his face and his trembling hand finally signed the contract that will make him a Liverpool player until 2028, Darwin Nunez’s thoughts will likely hark back to his past.
He will remember his childhood in El Pirata, a modest working-class neighborhood of Artigas, in northwestern Uruguay located in an area next to the flood-prone Cuareim River. He will remember all the nights he went to bed without supper and the daily struggle of his mother, who collected bottles she found on the streets to sell until she had enough money to eat. He will think of his father coming home tired after the daily grind on the construction site, hoping he can buy shoes for his son.
Liverpool’s newest striker arrives at Anfield with a story worth telling, one of sacrifice and overcoming obstacles, not to mention that Nunez almost quit football twice.
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Nunez’s first experience with big football came as a teenager running the streets of El Pirata. One afternoon in 2013, when playing at a remote stadium in Artigas, legendary Uruguayan midfielder Jose “El Chico” Perdomo, a former Peñarol star, stood on the sidelines to watch the game.
Once the match was over, El Chueco went straight to the parents of the skinny kid who caught his eye. A few days later, at the bus station, 14-year-old Darwin said goodbye to his parents Silvia Ribeiro and Bepiano in tears as he was on his way to the Uruguayan capital.
Once in Montevideo, Darwin resided at the Peñarol Academy. However, it was cut short after the first few training sessions.
“I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t stay there,” Nunez told me in an article for Uruguayan newspaper El Observador. “I went back to Artigas. I came back a year later, and [Juan] Ahuntchain was the coordinator. We talked, and he said I’d need in Penarol. Then I told my parents I would stay.”
At the time, Núñez’s older brother was already in Penarol, but soon after Darwin’s struggle, Junior Núñez returned to Artigas to help his family. Darwin tried to follow in his footsteps, but the older brother told him to stay.
You have a future. I’m out,” Junior said, a gesture Darwin will always remember.
The striker stayed at Peñarol’s academy for two and a half years until coach Leonardo Ramos promoted him to the first team at 16. At that time, he asked his agent Edgardo La Salvia to bring his parents to Montevideo.
Young Darwin’s career began to flourish, and he was promoted to play a game against the Blacks of America at Fossa Park. Halfway through the match, Darwin jumped while challenging the ball and twisted his knee as he fell. Subsequent examinations revealed a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, which required surgery. He went 18 months without stepping on the field, and his world collapsed around him.
“It was a difficult moment,” he recalls. “I wanted to quit football at that time.” “I was going to work at Artigas; there was no other way for me. I had to start thinking [life as] Eight pink hours.
Darwin remembered the sacrifices his older brother had made for him, and that was the only thing that kept him going. Darwin recovered and played again in the end, but another crushing blow was just around the corner.
He was called up by Fernando Corust, the manager of Peñarol at the time, to play against River Plate in November 2017. In the 63rd minute, Darwin was called up as a substitute for former Liverpool player Maxi Rodriguez. Nunez was leaving the field in tears, not because of the 2-1 loss, but because of the pain in his knee. He had to undergo surgery again, this time on his knee.
Darwin returned the following year, and in October 2018 scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Phoenix. A few months later, Nunez was called up to the Uruguay U-20 squad that played in the 2019 South American Championship and the World Cup in Poland. He was also a member of the team that participated in the Pan American Games. He had arrived as a player in the national team, and a year after scoring his first goal with the first team, he made his first-team Uruguay debut in a friendly match against Peru, scoring in a 1-1 draw.
In August 2019, Peñarol confirmed his move to Spanish club Almeria. His future and that of his family will be forever changed. Nunez’s life seemed like a fairy tale. Finally, he would be able to realize his biggest dream.
“We owned a house in Artigas, but it collapsed when we came to Montevideo. Fortunately, I will be able to buy a house for my parents,” Nunez said.
In September 2020, Nunez caused a stir during the European transfer window. Almeria transferred him to Benfica for €24 million, making him the most expensive incoming deal in Borugal’s Premier League history.
It may sound far-fetched, but Nunez’s career has progressed at an amazing pace. In just five years, he made his debut for Peñarol, was called up by the Uruguay national team, moved to Europe and became the most expensive deal in Portuguese football history. Now, he is one of the most expensive transfers ever, with Liverpool potentially spending up to €100m to sign him (subject to additions and performance bonuses).
Despite it all, Nunez is still the same kid he always was, never forgetting his past. In a recent Instagram post, he posted a photo of his old front door, writing, “My home, where I’ve been happy for 14 years! I’ll never forget where I came from and always remember it fondly.”
How can you forget a place if you’ve spent so many nights in bed without dinner, witnessing all the sacrifices your parents made for you?
He said, “I went to bed with an empty stomach.” “But it was often my mother who slept with an empty stomach, because a mother would do anything for her children, so many times I went to bed without dinner, just to give us something to eat. I grew up in a poor neighborhood, I learned there by sharing things with friends Everyone brought something.
“It was the same at school; when I had no food, I went to school full time. I went in at 7 in the morning and left at 3 in the afternoon. My parents were working, and I went to courses when I left school. My mother was not there yet, because she came down To the street to collect bottles and sell them to buy things for me and my brother. And I never forget that.”
